Electrical regulator



July s, 1958 L. A. RICE 2,842,634

ELECTRICAL REGULATOR Filed April 23, 1954 62 5| INSULATION 42 a Q 39 3a44 Q INSULATION 19A 52/ B 3'19 l|||| 58 as WI 1' I lllllllllmmr yman A.Rice INSULATION 24 His Alto/hey Unitcd States Patent ELECTRICALREGULATOR Lyman A. Rice, Anderson, Ind., assignor to General MotorsCorporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application April23, 1954, Serial No. 425,085

6 Claims. (Cl. 200-87) This invention relates to adjustment means andmore particularly to a vernier adjustment for use in circuit controls.

It isan object of the present invention to provide a stationarycontactin acircuit control. or. regulator with a prismoidal mounting sothat the air gap of said regulator may be adjusted when said mounting isrotated relative to the contact. 7

It is another object of the present. invention. to provide a fineadjustment for the air gap in a circuit control. This object ismaterialized by supporting a stationary contact of the control regulatoron a part having. a tapered surface so that the part when. rotated willcause the spacing between the contact and the electromagnet. to vary forfinely adjusting the air gap spacing between the magnet and the armatureof the control.

A more specific object ofv the present invention is to provide means foradjusting the air gap between the armature and electromagnet in acircuitcontroL. This object is accomplished by including a taperedmember between a stationary contact and the supporting structuretherefore so that the tapered member, when rotated, will cause theposition of the stationary contact to change, relative to a movablecontact carried by an armature, and thus adjustably vary the air gapbetween the armature and core of the electromagnet when the contacts arein engagement with each other.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following descniption, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the present invention isclearly shown. 7 1 j In the drawing: a Figure 1 is a view partly insection of a regulator embodying the a present invention.

, Figure 2 is an enlarged view along line 2-2 in Figure l.'

Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the stationary contact and supporttherefore in Figure 1.

In the drawing, the numeral 20 designates a circuit controller orregulator similar to the type disclosed in patent application Serial No.371,133, as filed July 29, 1953, by I. H. Bolles and L. A. Rice andassigned to the assignee of the present invention. Regulator 20 includesa base 22 whercon a cover 23 is sealingly positioned so that theinternal parts. of the regulator are protected from damage. Theseinternal parts of the regulator comprise an electromagnet assembly 24, astationary contact assembly 26, and a movable contact assembly 28.

The electromagnet assembly 24 has a magnetic core 30 that is secured tobase 22 and spaced from the movable armature 38 portion of movablecontact assembly 28 when regulator winding 34 is deenergized. Winding 34which is wound on core 30 is suitably insulated from base 22 and has oneend connected with an external terminal 34 and the other end connectedto a contact arm 36 of the stationary contact assembly 26. The armature38 of movable contactassembly 28 has a movable contact 39 2 ,842,634Patented July 8, 1958 on one end and an arm 40 bent at right angles ofthe plane of the armature 38 on the other end. The armature 38, a springhinge 42 and a plate 44 are secured to each other so the hinge 42 whichextends beyond plate 44 and has two spaced tongues, not shown, may besecured to one end of a magnet frame 46 that is disposed adjacent theelectromagnet assembly 24 and has the other end secured to the base 22by an extension of the core 30 which passes through an opening in thebase. The plate 44 is provided with a hook or a spring seat 48 thatsupports one end of a spring 50 that has the other end suitably securedto an adjustment means 52 as clearly outlined in the Bolles and Ricepatent supra. When assembled the spring 50 urges armature plate 38 in aclockwise direction to maintain the movable contact 39 in a closedposition with the stationary contact 52 with a predetermined force. Thespring force by which the contacts 39 and 52 are kept in engagement maybe adjusted by an adjustment means 53 so as to change the tension ofspring 50 and thus vary the magnetic force that must be developed by theeIectrornagnet assembly 24 for separating contacts 39 and 52.

The stationary contact assembly 26 includes the stationary contact 52 ascarried on one end of contact arm 36 which has the other end insulatedfrom and secured through an adjustment means 54 to a bracket 56 thatv ismounted on the electromagnetic assembly 24, as clearly seen in Figure 3.The bracket 56 has a suitably threaded opening wherein the threads ofscrew 55 are tightened against lock washer 51 that seats on aninsulating washer 57 for holding the contact arm in position on aprismoidal shape member 58, as will be hereinafter more. fullydescribed,which in turn is held against insulating washer 59 that seats on bracket56.

The prismoidal member 58, in the preferred embodiangularity relativetobracket .56 as shown in positions A and B in Figure 3.

Generally at least two adjustments must be made on the. regulators ofthetype herein disclosed to correct for manufacturing inaccuracies and tocorrectly calibrate the regulator for the circuit wherein it isincluded. This invention is directed to the adjustment of the air gap.This is accomplished by inserting a feeler gauge of the proper thicknessbetween the core 30 and the movable armature 38 and depressing thearmature into contact with the feeler gauge, against the force of spring50 so that a predetermined air gap is realized between the core 30 andthe movable armature 38. When the armature is in this depressedposition, and the screw 55 has been loosened, the adjustment member 58may be rotated, as by a wrench, so'that the angularity of contact arm 36changes and causes contact 52 to move and engage contact 39. When theparts are in this position, the screw 55 is tight ened and the parts arethus maintained in the correct position with each other so as to providea proper spacing for the air gap of the regulator.

The adjustment of the tension of the spring 50, which varies the magnetforce required to move armature 38 and thus calibrate the regulator to apredetermined current and/ or voltage is accomplished by adjustmentmeans 53 as is clearly set forth in the patent to Bolles and Rice,supra.

It is manifest the rotation of member 58 will cause conchange itsposition relative to This tilt is not objectionable in that it is of asmall magnitude and will not aifect the engagement between the contacts52 and 39 because of the rounded end surfaces on each of the contacts.In this connection it is to be pointed out that the air gap adjustmentrequired generally is of a small magnitude and if contact arm 36 is aninch in length, a two degree change in its angularity will move contact52 approximately .035 inch which generally exceeds the amount ofadjustment required. Further if desired the shape of member 58 may beother than disclosed to accomplish. an adjustment of the air gap whenthe angularity of the contact arm 36 is changed relative to the otherportions of the apparatus. For example, the member 58 may be a cylinderwith tapped ends or may be divided into a plurality of segments thathave one or more faces tapered so that the arm 36 will move when thevarious segments are rotated relative to each other. These embodimentsare not shown and are all within the scope of the present invention.

While the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosedconstitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a circuit control, the combination comprising; an electromagnet,an armature adapted to be moved by said electromagnet and spacedtherefrom when said magnet is deenergized, a movable contact carried bysaid armature, a flexible blade carrying a stationary contact at one endthereof that is adapted to engage said movable contact when saidarmature is deenergized, and means for supporting said blade adjacentthe opposite end thereof including a prismoidal member spaced from saidstationary contact, said prismoidal member having nonparallel endsurfaces arranged for moving said contact relative to said magnet forvarying the spacing between the armature and magnet.

2. In a circuit control, the combination comprising, an electromagnet,an armature normally spaced from said magnet when said magnet isdeenergized having a contact portion thereon, a stationary contact meansin contact with the contact portion of said armature when said magnet isdeenergized, a flexible arm having the stationary contact on one end,and a prismoidal member supporting the flexible arm at its other end,said prismoidal member having an upper inclined face that engages theflexible arm whereby said arm is moved when said prismoidal member isrotated. a

3. In a circuit control, the combination comprising; an electromagnet,an armature normally spaced from said magnet when said magnet isdeenergized having a contact portion thereon, a flexible blade carryinga stationary contact at one end thereof that is arranged to engage thecontact portion of said armature when said'magnet is deenergized, amember having one tapered end surface supporting said flexible blade ata spaced distance from said stationary contact and adapted to move saidcontact support and stationary contact for varying the spacing betweensaid armature and magnet, said member operating as the sole support forsaid flexible blade.

4. In a circuit control the combination comprising; an electromagnet, anarmature normally spaced from said magnet when said. magnet isdeenergized having a contact portion thereon, a stationary contact incontact with the contact portion of said armature when said magnet isdeenergized, a flexible blade supporting said stationary contactadjacent one end thereof, and a member having converging end surfacessupporting said flexible arm adjacent an opposite end thereof, saidmember being spaced from said stationary contact and adapted to move theblade and contact for varying the spacing between said armatureandmagnet when such member is rotated relative to the blade.

5. In a circuit control, the combination comprising; an electromagnet,anarmature normally spaced from said magnet when said magnet isdeenergized, a movablecontact portion on said armature, a stationarycontact in con! tact with the movable contact portion on said armaturewhen said magnet is deenergized, a flexible lever carrying thestationary contact on one end, and means including a block spaced fromsaid stationary contact and arranged to support the other end of saidflexible ilever, said block having spaced surfaces in nonparallel planesarranged to move the contact carrying end of said lever for varying thespace between said armature and magnet when said 3 block is rotatedrelative to said lever.

6. In a circuit control, the combination comprising; an electromagnet,an armature norm-ally spaced from said magnet when said magnet isde-energized and having a contact portion thereon, a rotatableme'mber, aflexible blade supported in cantilever fashion by said member and havinga contact spaced from said member that engages the contact portion ofsaid armature when said magnet is de-energized, and cam meanson saidrotatable member engaging said blade to adjust the same when said memberis rotated, said rotatable member being the sole supportfor said blade.

7 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STAT ES PATENTS200,132 Great Britain July 2, 1923

